Month: March 2018

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Communication ECA Phase II Class 1: LEGO Digital Designer: Screw 20180307

Phase II is the middle-level class of Play2Learn Education Lego Challenge Program. In the next 8 weeks, the students will have good opportunities to learn and practice the basic mechanical mechanisms including lever, wheel and axle, pulley, wedge and screw.

We started the Phase II by the LEGO Digital Designer (LDD) class. The main reason is we would like to teach the student the skills to use the LDD so they can have more time to do their own Lego designs. The LDD program allows users to build models using virtual Lego bricks, in a computer-aided design like manner. We taught the students the basic skills to use LDD, such as how to pick parts, how to save the file, how to rotate part, etc. The students get familiar enough with it after some instructions and practice. They were then requested to build a screw model in LDD following a step by step booklet. The STEM information behind this section is the computer-aided designs, which is common in industry designs every day. All students got a good practice with LDD, and they were ready to design their customized models.

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Hour of Code: March 14, 2018 Edgemont Free Workshop

Play2Learn Education is glad to present:

Event: Hour of Code
When: March 14, 2018 7:30 PM
Where: Edgemont Community Association


Free Coding Workshop
Grade 4+ welcome
Please email: director@play2learn.ca for registration before March 12th, 2018

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PBP Phase 2: Final Class

Today we had a mostly free build period as the class went wild with their ideas in Lego digital designer. The ideas and designs presented by the students were all excellent and they built some truly impressive creations. As for the free build what ended up happening is that most of the students attempted to build a massive wall across the room. The kids definitely seemed to have fun in phase 2 and we hope to see them again in phase 3!

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PBP Phase 1: Class 8: Final Class

Today was a free build period and most of the class built cars, all with different propulsion systems. The kids appeared to have had a lot of fun during the semester and clearly demonstrated their knowledge in the free build. Thank you all for the wonderful semester, hope to see you all in Phase 2!

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ECA 201803 Phase I Class 1: PowerCar

The first class went according to plan. It was a great way for the kids to understand the conduct of the class and also get to know each other. Everyone was able to finish their project and enjoy competing against each other at the end. The kids also made sure to enjoy their time in class which is important as well, as it will encourage deeper learning. Next week we will be working with more projects in the class that are similar to what was worked on Wednesday, but slightly more complicated. 

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PBP Phase 1: Class 7: Crane

Today we built the Crane and learned a bit more about the block and tackle which we had covered in previous lessons. The kids were determined to lift as much as they could today. Next week we will be building objects that the students designed in lego digital designer. Please help the students clean up after class. 

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PBP Phase 1: Class 7: Dragster

Today we built the Dragster, which reinforces the concepts that we learned from the Flywheeler. The children had fun with their Dragsters today and raced them. Next week we will have a free build. Please help the children to clean up after class is over. 

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PBP Phase 2: Class 6: Lego Digital Designer

Today we started the kids on Lego Digital Designer (LDD) a 3D Computer Aided Design program that allows kids to design lego sets without having to purchase lego directly. The students initially had some problems locating the parts however they quickly started to grow accustomed to the menus and as it is their first time working with the program it will take time to get accustomed to it. 

Next week we are building a crane

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PBP Phase 1: Class 7: Fishing Rod

Today the children built fishing rods to hook various “fish” that were built from lego as well participating in a certain challenge to lift a heavier fish. The principles behind the fishing rod include ratchets,winches, and pulleys. However one of the kids built a block and tackle, a type of pulley that multiplies the force used to lift an object so I took the time to explain what it was and the advantages it has over a regular pulley system. The students enjoyed the activity and had fun attempting to grab the fish. 

Next Friday (March 2nd) will be a free building class (I think) 

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Communication ECA Phase III Class 7: Pneumatic: Robot Arm 20180221

The last and the most exciting section of the pneumatic system is the robot arm model. Two students worked as a group to build a robot arm, which composes pneumatic components including three cylinders, three air valves, one air tank, one manometer and one air pumps. Due to the students had already gained good understandings of all these pneumatic components in previous sections, they all finished the robot arm pretty smoothly.

The STEM information behind this section is also the application of pneumatic systems as well as the cylinder piston rod force output calculation. In this section, the students used three cylinders and three air valves, thus they can control three components of the robot arm to move independently for conducting objects grasping task. After four sections, the students all had good understandings of the pneumatic systems. And had a lot of fun especially in the last three application sections.

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